Special Educational Needs

At Westbourne we believe that every pupil regardless of gender, race or disability, has a right to equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum and we work towards all children being independent. The attitudes of both staff and pupils towards children with special needs are very positive and every effort is made to ensure they are full and valued members of our school community.

Staff are trained and experienced in meeting the needs of learners who have difficulties in the following areas:

• Cognition and Learning
• Communication and Interaction
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Sensory and / or Physical (including disabilities which create barriers to learning)

Our current SEND register includes children who have needs in each of these areas.

A concern regarding a child’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can be made by anyone at school or at home. When a concern is raised, a thorough base line assessment is carried out by the class teacher with support from the Inclusion manager. Information is shared and collated to create a full picture of pupils needs.

When a child has been identified with a special need, the child will be placed on the schools’ SEND Register with parental permission at the Range and primary need as identified through the Baseline assessment. We follow the Council’s Range model for assessing children with special needs which identifies teaching methods and strategies to support their needs. The Class Teacher will then create a Support Plan for the child which contains personalised targets according to their area of need. This will ensure that the child’s work is differentiated to enable them to access the curriculum more easily and remove any barriers to learning.

The class teacher has responsibility for the progress of all the children in their class through quality first teaching in in the first instance. Pupils with more complex SEND needs may access additional support from a teaching assistant or learning support assistant under the direction of the class teacher.

The Support Plan will be monitored by the class teacher weekly and by the Inclusion Manager six times per year. Pupil progress meeting are held each half term with the senior leadership team to discuss the progress of all the children in each class.

In addition to using our staff expertise, we work with a range of outside agencies from education, health and social services to support a wide range of more complex special educational needs.

All of the arrangements we have in place include children with SEND needs who are looked after by the local authority.

If your child has special educational needs and/or a disability and you would like to know more about what we offer at Westbourne Primary School please contact us on 01274 773328.

Inclusion Manager and SENCO is Rebecca Fowles.

Governor with responsibility for SEND is Yunus Mayat

All parents are encouraged to support and get involved in their child’s education.  Your child’s class teacher will be available at the end of each school day if you wish to raise a concern.  The class teacher may suggest ways in which you can support your child. Each term, parents will be invited to a meeting with the class teacher and Inclusion Manager, where the reviewed Support Plan and the new plan will be shared, providing the chance for parents to offer their own feedback and ideas.  If outside agencies have been involved suggestions and programmes of study are normally provided that can be used at home.  The progress of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved in the child’s education.

We invite the older children to be part of the Support Plan review meeting so they can give feedback about the targets they have been given.  The children’s plans are kept in their own Target Book which gives the older children ownership of their targets and encourages teachers to regularly discuss these targets and any progress towards meeting them with the child.

We also ask the children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to make personal invitations to the Annual Review to send to their parents.

At Westbourne, we do our upmost to ensure that a pupil’s transfer is as smooth as possible, involving the parents and the children.  All pupils take part in a Transition Day during the summer term, where they get an opportunity to spend the day with their new class teacher in their new classrooms.  Where necessary, additional visits may also be made or the new class teacher may visit the pupil in their current classroom.

We hold discussions between the previous or receiving school prior to the pupil joining or leaving and the Inclusion Manager and Family Liaison Team are always willing to meet with parents at any point in the process.

When transferring to secondary school, the Inclusion Manager will liaise with the SENCO from the secondary school to pass on information regarding individual children.  We may also arrange meeting with the secondary school SENCO and parents where appropriate and/or additional visits to the secondary school for the pupil.

All staff at Westbourne Primary School are responsible for the well-being of every child in school and have the highest possible expectations and are committed to providing quality first teaching so that all children can make good progress with their learning.  All teaching is based on building on what your child already knows, can do and can understand. Lessons are differentiated to meet the needs of all children and our Teaching and Learning Support Assistants support the class teachers in providing high quality teaching for all of our children.

We follow the graduated approach of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review” as recommended in the Code of Practice :

Assess – this involves carrying out a clear analysis of the child’s needs taking into consideration all the information from parents, the child, the class teacher and assessments. In some cases, outside professionals may be involved with the assessment process.

Plan – this stage identifies the barriers for learning, intended outcomes, and details what additional support will be provided to help overcome the barriers. Decisions will be recorded on a Support Plan and will form the basis for review meetings.

Do – the class teacher is responsible for ensuring provision is planned, resourced and delivered to meet the targets set in the Individual Support Plan, which may include supporting a Teaching or Learning Support Assistant.

Review – the targets and support set in the Individual Learning Plan should be reviewed each half term and consider whether changes to that support need to be made. All of those involved – child, parents, teacher, SENCO and outside agencies, where appropriate, contribute to this review. This stage then informs the next cycle.

As a school we strive to make the learning environment accessible to everyone and are happy to discuss individual access requirements.  The school building is fully accessible and individual teachers adapt their classrooms to meet the needs of children with special needs and/or disabilities.

Facilities we have at present include, a hygiene room adapted for disabled users, a lift to access the upper part of school and designated disabled parking spaces (see Accessibility Plan).  If appropriate specialist equipment may be given to a pupil e.g. writing slopes, alternative coloured paper, electronic equipment, pens/pencil grips or easy to use scissors.  Teachers plan using pupils’ achievement levels, differentiating tasks to ensure all children can access their learning and make progress.  When a pupil has been identified as having special educational needs and/or a disability, the curriculum will be further adapted by the class teacher, supported by the Inclusion Manager, to reduce barriers to learning.

The progress of the children on the SEND Register is reviewed each half term and is measured by the most suitable method for each individual child – Year Group Expectations, Small Steps, Pre-Key Stage Standards for Key Stage 1 and 2, P Scales or the Early Years Developmental Journal.

Each half term, parents will be invited to a meeting with the class teacher and Inclusion Manager, where the reviewed Support Plan and the new Support Plan will be shared, providing the chance for parents to offer their own feedback and ideas.

The Leadership Team, including the Inclusion Manager, will also check that your child is making good progress with any individual work and in any group that they take part in.

Parents are encouraged to arrange an appointment to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher or the Inclusion Manager at any time when they feel concerned or have information they feel they would like to share that could impact on their child’s success. Please contact the school office who will arrange this appointment for you.

Special needs is the responsibility of all staff and all staff undertake general training within school on supporting children with a range of SEND so they are therefore familiar with special needs procedures and develop learning programmes that reflect the changing needs of their pupils.  Individual members of staff also receive specialist training where necessary to meet the learning and medical needs of particular children. The Inclusion Manager has been awarded the Special Educational Needs Coordination Postgraduate course.

The Inclusion Manager monitors the movement of children on the SEND Register and provide staff and governors with regular summaries of the impact of the policy on the practice of the school.  They are involved in supporting teachers and in drawing up Support Plans for children.  The Inclusion Manager holds regular meetings to review the work of the school in this area. In addition to this, Inclusion Manager and the named governor with responsibility for special needs hold regular meetings.

All of our children with SEND have the same opportunities as everybody else in school and are not treated less favourably than other children.  Provision is made for all children to take part in extra-curricular activities, trips and sporting events. We pride ourselves with the provision we make to ensure children with SEND can take part in everything we have to offer.

The school offers a wide variety of pastoral support for pupils who are encountering emotional and/or social difficulties.  These include class teachers, Inclusion Manager and the Family Support Team who are all readily available for pupils and parents who wish to discuss issues and concerns.  Where appropriate mediation sessions are carried out, bereavement counselling provided and self-esteem programmes are delivered.

Westbourne Primary School works in a collaborative partnership with many different agencies.  We will always ensure that parental consent is given before referrals are made.  This means that a supportive plan can be developed to meet your child’s needs both in and out of school.

We hold regular meetings to monitor the plan and make changes, when necessary.  We call these meetings Team Around the Child (TAC) because that is what they are – a meeting where you and your child consult with the team members to implement the plan developed to support your child.

We also use the Early Help framework as a multi-agency planned approach in addressing and supporting the needs of pupils and their families.

The Governing Body and school work with the following agencies collaboratively to meet the needs of pupils with SEND and support their families:

Education Psychologist
Hearing Impaired Team
Visually Impaired Team
Learning Difficulties Team
Behaviour Support Team
Autism Team
Hospital Teaching Team
CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service)
Early Help
School Nurse
Speech and Language Therapy Team.

We urge parents/carers with concerns regarding the SEND policy or the provision made for their child at Westbourne Primary School to speak to us as soon as possible.  In the first instance, they should speak to the class teacher. If they feel that their child’s needs are still not being met they should make an appointment to see Inclusion Manager.

If the concern is still unresolved, parents would need to follow the school’s complaints procedure.

The Children and Families Bill was enacted in September 2014.  From this date Local Authorities and schools are required to publish and keep under review information about services they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0- 25.  The Local Authority refers to this as the ‘Local Offer’.  The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families.  It will also be an important resource for parents in understanding the range of services and provision locally

Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s Local Offer can be found at https://localoffer.bradford.gov.uk/

Further details of support services that can support parents of children of SEND can be found at https://www.bradford.gov.uk/children-young-people-and-families/does-your-child-have-special-educational-needs-or-disabilities/special-educational-needs-and-disability-send-specialist-assessment-and-support-service/